Moscow has turned to North Korea for labor support amid
workforce shortages, with thousands of North Korean workers sent to Russia in
2024. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) reported the
development on February 9, stating that this violates U.N. Security Council
resolutions prohibiting Pyongyang from sending workers abroad, according to
Seoul’s Yonhap News Agency.
North Korean laborers are helping Moscow by allowing Russian
civilian workers to be reassigned to the defense industry or deployed to
Ukraine, as noted by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). The
strengthening ties between Moscow and Pyongyang were further cemented with the
ratification of their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership treaty, which
mandates mutual military assistance if either country is attacked.
The NIS disclosed that thousands of North Korean workers had
been deployed to construction sites across Russia in the previous year. Many
reportedly entered the country using student visas, with 13,221 North Koreans
arriving in Russia last year—7,887 of them claiming educational purposes. This
figure represents a twelvefold increase from 2023.
In an October 2024 briefing, the NIS estimated that North
Korean workers in Russia were receiving approximately $800 per month, according
to the Korea Herald. Russia had previously voted in favor of U.N. Resolution
2397 in 2017, which required all overseas North Korean workers to return home
by 2019 as part of sanctions against Pyongyang’s ballistic missile program.
North Korea has emerged as one of Russia’s staunchest allies
since the Ukraine war began in February 2022. The DPRK reportedly sent between
10,000 and 12,000 troops to support Russian forces in October 2024. However,
these troops were withdrawn from Russia’s Kursk region at the end of January
following heavy casualties, according to unnamed Ukrainian and U.S. officials
cited by The New York Times. The respite was brief, as Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky stated on February 7 that North Korean troops had returned
to the front lines in Kursk.
According to the ISW, Russia has been struggling with severe
labor shortages in both civilian and defense industries since the full-scale
invasion of Ukraine. Despite the influx of North Korean workers, the impact on
Russia’s workforce deficit is expected to be minimal. By December 2024, Russia
reportedly faced an estimated labor shortage of 1.5 million workers.
During a speech at the North Korean Ministry of National
Defense on February 9, as reported by DPRK’s Korean State News Agency, North
Korean leader Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his country's support for Russia. He
stated: "It is the invariable stand of the DPRK government to oppose and
reject any acts of denying international justice and disturbing global peace
and security. Our army and people will invariably support and encourage the
just cause of the Russian army and people to defend their sovereignty, security,
and territorial integrity, in keeping with the spirit of the treaty on the
comprehensive strategic partnership between the DPRK and Russia."
Wi Sung-lac, a South Korean politician and former ambassador
to Russia, suggested in an interview with the Korea Herald that North Korean
workers may have been recruited to compensate for Russia’s labor shortages
following military conscriptions.
It remains to be seen how the U.N. will respond to these
violations of Security Council resolutions and how the Russia-North Korea
alliance will evolve as the war in Ukraine continues.
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